Delegate: Ritika Mukherji
Delegate Short Bio: Ritika is a third year DPhil (PhD) candidate in Neuroscience at the University of Oxford. She previously studied a Master’s in Neuroscience at Oxford. In her Master’s and now DPhil research she investigates the neural, electrophysiological and metabolic correlates between sleep and hypometabolic states such as torpor. Professor Vlad Vyazovskiy is her primary DPhil supervisor and Professors David Dupret, Dr Pietro Luca Ratti and Dr Jose Prius Mengual are her co-supervisors. Her education in Oxford is supported by the Rhodes and Clarendon Scholarships. Ritika is also part of a team of researchers, biomedical engineers and clinicians at the John Radcliffe Hospital, developing machine-learning algorithms to accurately interpret human polysomonography recordings.
During her bachelor’s in Zoology at Miranda House, University of Delhi, India, Ritika worked remotely with Dr Jessica Kendall-Bar at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Here she was analysing brain, heart and movement data from northern elephant seals living in the wild – these were the first ever non-invasive electrophysiological recordings of sleep in wild marine mammals. She also conducted an extensive comparative literature review of the methods of sleep data collection and scoring in different species.
Her general academic interests are associated with the study of central and peripheral contributions of the nervous system in the maintenance of sleep and related hypometabolic states in diverse animal species.
Scope of Activity: Campaign of multiple activities
Activity: Co-organised two public engagement booths for World Sleep Day on March 13, with Noah Milligan (Clinical Research Assistant and Sleep Medicine Trainee, Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford).
Locations:
– John Radcliffe (JR) Hospital – West Wing foyer (open to hospital staff and all visitors).
– Radcliffe Science Library (RSL) – primarily for University staff and students.
Booth structure and activities:
– Learn
a. Posters explaining how sleep duration and patterns change across the lifespan (newborns, toddlers, children, adolescents, adults, and older adults).
b. Poster and take-home leaflets on sleep hygiene tips and practical strategies for improving sleep.
c. Promoted the Five Principles of Sleep Health animation film developed by Prof Colin Espie and narrated by actor Sacha Baron Cohen.
– Interact
a. Sleep-function wordsearch puzzles where each word represented a biological or cognitive function of sleep.
b. Chronotype quiz with themed stickers participants could take away.
c. Interactive data collection poster asking participants how much sleep they personally need to feel well-rested, illustrating variability across individuals.
d. Live polysomnography demonstration explaining how sleep is measured in research and clinical settings.
e. Hands-on interaction with sleep-technology devices, including the Dreem EEG headband, circadian light goggles, and actigraphy watches.
f. Opportunity to speak with a sleep clinician about sleep health questions.
– Talk to a Sleep Scientist
Short informal talks by researchers from multiple disciplines including physician-scientists, psychologists, systems neuroscientists, medical trainees, geneticists, and data scientists.
– Participate in a Sleep Study
Promoted seven active sleep-related research studies recruiting participants.
Brought together projects from the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Big Data Institute, Nuffield Department of Population Health, and the Department of Experimental Psychology.
Acknowledgements: We thank all members of the Clinical Neurophysiology Team at the JR Hospital, Dr Pietro Luca Ratti, Dr Zenobia Zaiwalla, Takashi Kadotani, Rachel Sharman, Lucy Jobbins, Nicola Barclay, Katrina Y.K. Tse, Forrest Cheung, Shruti Menon, Alessandra Ambrosio, Ankitha Rajaram, Barbara Robinson, Simon J. Guillot, Linus Milinski, Rong Mao and Amaia Salazar for guiding us all the way through and helping us set up and execute this ambitious event in record time; and to our amazing graphic designers Gema Maria Mulas Estrugo and Paula Bermejo Rodríguez for creating the beautiful visuals that attracted nearly a 100 individuals over to our booths.
Location: Oxford, Oxfordshire
Date of Activity: March 13, 2025
